holiday stress

As joyous a time as the holidays can be, sometimes it gets a little difficult to stay calm with all the family outings, gifts to buy, parties to attend, and so on. We get it. And so does Jaime Kulaga, Ph.D. Kulaga shares some tips that she recommends to her stressed-out clients below. Start practicing them now and you could be stress-free by 2014. It's a stressful time of year... 1. Don't Focus on Others. Focus on You. If your friend just got engaged and you're still single, or if your coworker got a promotion that you wanted, don't stress out. Comparing yourself with others automatically makes you feel like the inferior one. Instead, focus your energy on you and how you can improve your life. "You are in control of you and need to take the time and energy to explore who you are," says Kulaga. 2. Stay Active. "Find ways to beef up your energy so that you can handle any stressors that come your way," says Kulaga. For example, if you know you have tons of work to do, make sure to treat yourself to a nice healthy breakfast first, or take a break to fit in read more

‘Tis the season. Fa la la. You know: all that merry good stuff. In all honesty, the holidays are serious business. Between the shopping and cooking and picking out the perfect gift, who has time to worry about family drama? Hopefully you’re one of the lucky gals who does not have to worry about what her family will say about bringing home a significant other for the holidays OK, before I go any further, MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you’re all at home with your loved ones enjoying the time together with some rad new gifts (and insanely good food). Maybe your guy has joined you in the festivities this year. If so, tell me the truth: how do your parents really feel about it? J and I have been splitting the holidays between Long Island and New Jersey for the past few years now so it’s nothing new for us or our families, but it definitely took a little getting used to back in the early days. J’s parents were always pretty fine about having J and me stay over for Christmas; they had been dealing with the split-holidays thing for nearly a decade with J’s older brother and his read more

Holiday cheer! Beverages that end in "-nog"! Your boyfriend's relatives screaming at each other as you awkwardly stand there, noting you are related to none of these people, yet here to witness this all go down! So, hopefully this won't be the case for you, but, honestly, it's possible. Holidays are difficult for lots of reasons," says Dr. Deanna Brann, Ph.D, and clinical psychotherapist. "It's a stressful time anyway for most people, but people also have a Norman Rockwell mindset for what that is supposed to be, and not many people have that. Issues are magnified, worst behavior starts to come out." Brann is also the author of Reluctantly Related: Secrets To Getting Along With Your Mother-in-Law or Daughter-in-Law, so I tapped her to spill all the wisdom she had to help survive visiting your guy's family for the first time. Behold, Brann's has these top three tips to keep in mind: Be a team player. When you go over to their house make sure you ask if there’s anything you can do to help, and volunteer to do things. "Start to get to know these people," she says. And if you can, spend lots of time with his mother. read more

No, we haven't watched too many Claymation holiday specials--just stay with us here, OK? No one, it seems, is immune to the anxiety that is the entire month of December. No one, that is, except the dude in the red suit who's merry all. the. time. Here's what you can learn from the big guy. read more

Do the holidays stress you out? I'll admit, as much as I love this time of the year, I definitely feel the weight of it all. But, if long lines, bad weather or irritating relatives are getting on your nerves these days, consider this important health warning. "Being impatient could cause anxiety and hostility," says Daniel Baugher, dean of graduate programs at Pace University in New York City who has studied personality and social psychology. "And if you're constantly anxious, your sleep could be affected, too." But that's not all: NBC took a look at the past research, and being an impatient person could increase your risk for high blood pressure and heart disease. "High blood pressure is a symptom that the body is going into overdrive," Baugher says. "The whole body gets geared up for a fight." I don't know about you, but this is an important reminder to me to chill out. No sense letting small things fire off excessive levels of adrenaline or cortisol in my bod. (Oh, and that sneaky cortisol might also lead to weight gain, too--eeks!) So my dears, let's practice being mellow--even if your office-mate's gum-smacking is really driving you crazy. Do you read more